Hello everyone! Following feedback i've been making a bunch of improvements to the demo, while my main focus right now is building out the full game's content, it's important that I keep this demo up to date with as much QoL and polish as I can spare time for.
I think the most dramatic change here is the addition of what's commonly referred to as "coyote time" buffers to spear grabbing. This input leniency was already present for jumping normally, but in order to help with timing quick jumps from wall grabs and also provide some leniency when letting GO of a wall grab, I've added a significant window to let you still jump when technically pressing the button "too early/late". This also makes certain forbidden techniques that were previously near frame perfect a lot more reliable with practice!
Thank you all for your continued feedback and bug hunting across these forums and the community discord (Oh yeah, we have one of those now!). There's still plenty of bugs and things to improve on the list but here are some of the most helpful things I could do with limited time. Hope you all continue to enjoy the demo and look forward to the full game!
Changelog:
Winged Statues no longer cause a full screen white flash on activation.
Made the moving saw blades in KERO's trial more consistent with the intended experience. Fixed a bug where the top saw blade would go out of sync, sometimes rendering the trial near impossible.
Fixed issue where restarting from the menu would cause the OS cursor to remain visible.
A lot of dialogue has been subtly changed for better context, flow, intent and pacing. Some of the chattier gems have been made a bit more brief.
Pre-jump buffer now applied to wall grabs, so if you press jump up to 7 frames prior to a wall grab, you will get a jump. (with apologies/your welcome re: the difficulty of spike jumping)
similarly, the "post-fall" buffer was applied to wall grabs, so pressing jump up to 7 frames after falling from a wall grab will result in a jump.
Changed default pad alt binding for jump to the left shoulder button.
Fixed a whole host of music/volume issues. Volumes set from the menu should be more consistently respected!
Gem "voices" now have their own volume slider in the audio menu.
Fixed issue where restarting from the menu would not reset throw "slowdown" effect
Fixed issue where restarting from the menu would not reset the underwater low pass filter effect
Player wake up state "skip" (available from frame 8 of the animation) now also triples the speed of the circle transition effect. This means the player can see their surroundings and access the menu more quickly if needed.
Fixed issue where spear does not hit walls properly after a poke input that cancels out of the "return" state (after a throw/SJ) due the cooldown period between "held pokes" getting stuck after throwing the spear.
Additionally, reduced the cooldown period between held pokes from 25f to 18f, to match the timing of a jump's peak.
Spear "return delay" adjusted to 27f down from 30f
The "control mode" setting now actually functions properly.
Demo end screen now properly responds to pad input
Demo Mini-patch #1
Thanks everybody for playing the new demo and for all your wonderful feedback, footage, discussion, speedrun tech and gem hunting so far!
I'm taking some time off after releasing the new demo, but my destiny compelled me to create this tiny patch to fix some annoying level design issues that have been bothering me since the new release. It only took me twenty minutes so I hope I didn't break anything.
Patch Notes:
Fixed respawn/checkpointing issue where one could get stuck in the area you collect Monty if unable to make the return jump after exiting the nearby trial statue.
Moved a certain spike exactly two pixels to the right.
Made "old method" for obtaining Petal easier, which is more in line with their original design.
Added a subtle hint for a certain fake wall, this hint does not infringe on Dot/Reyna's intellectual property rights.
Made Parting significantly easier to obtain, he was a little bit too stingy with his margin for error.
Removed mysterious gateway to the void that was mistakenly present in Reyna's room.
I hope you all continue to enjoy the game. <3 -ShaunJS
New Steam Demo!
Hello! it's been a while!
Working on this game has historically been a spare-time endeavor for the last few years, but finally development has launched into full-time mode! Not just that, but over the last four years(!) since the release of the original PokeyPoke demo, the game has improved and changed dramatically. It is about time we had a demo that reflected all of the work that has been put into the game, and celebrate it finally becoming my number one focus.
If you've played the demo in the past, I highly recommend giving this a go and feeling the massive upgrade!
Some highlights of the new demo:
Gems now talk!?
Gems contain mysterious spirits of the island's former inhabitants. They will tell you about themselves, their history and help guide you. As well as just give you a well earned pat on the back for beating their many ridiculous trials.
Game feel revamp
Countless new player animations, a revamped spear and new vfx help bring our stranded pilot-girl to life. Throwing and stabbing with the spear feels better than ever before.
Island Beautified
My artist, Inkedsplat has been hard at work making the island look prettier than ever! Beautiful new background art that completely changes the look of the whole game.
Options!
A brand new pause menu finally allows players to rebind all of their controls, change display settings and generally experience all the QOL features one would expect of a premier PC game.
And like, loads more!
Seriously, its been years. I literally can't remember everything that has changed at this point. It's a whole new game. You're just gonna have to play it.
PokeyPoke Devlog - Episode 3
Here is episode 3 of an ongoing devlog series I am releasing about the extremely slow (sorry!) but steady(!) development of PokeyPoke!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oOBtxj-kr9k
PokeyPoke - Stab things and find shinies!
PokeyPoke is a game about stabbing stuff and finding shiny things. Climb and swing around a mysterious island by way of a spear, finding hidden gems and passing difficult trials.
This game was born of a game jam entry several years back where its whole identity surrounded its unique movement mechanics involving a spear and "collecting things around a map".
Since then it has grown around this form and been refined into a game with expressive movement that handles like no other. Difficult but rewarding to master with many ways to approach problems.
PokeyPoke is made by a small team and focuses on a few key values. It does not gate your progress with power-ups or unlocks. There is no combat. There is just you, an island full of trials and rewards and your own willingness to learn, improve and conquer them.
Our demo shows a very small slice of the early areas of the game but there are hidden elements around every corner. We have made 24* gems available to be hunted down. Can you gather them all?
Please let us know what you think in the community hub or follow the game on twitter at @PokeyPokeGame
*there might be one more, but it isn't for the faint of heart.
